Five best places to wake up, according to top travelers

As the summer days stretch longer and longer, and the sun barely dips below the horizon, we've found ourselves waking up ever earlier. Lying there at 5am, as the sun streams through the window, we've had plenty of time to consider where we'd really like to be. In a Mongolian yurt, gazing across the steppe? Rousing from slumber to the tropical cacophony of a rainforest? Or perhaps being rocked gently awake on a small cruise ship navigating through icebergs and fjords?

For some inspiration, we've interviewed some of our Folks We Love. These are some of the people who we admire the most, the ones that live their travel dreams and have put aside their fears.

We asked them Where’s the best place you’ve woken up? Places with unusual morning sounds and exotic smells, where you wake up refreshed and with a smile, not a frown.

1. BBC wildlife presenter, Liz Bonnin: BOTSWANA

"In a tent in Botswana as the sun rises and the wildlife starts its dawn chorus."

To wake and hear the sounds of African wildlife through the canvas we would recommend our two-week camping safari in Botswana, offering complete wildlife immersion.

"I can mention a thousand places, but perhaps on a mountainside in Nepal to the sound of a cockerel."

Follow Levison Wood's footsteps and enjoy the silence of the mountains. Our Nepal trekking vacation helps you gain a real insight into ancient traditions and remote communities of the Nepalese Himalayas.

3. Travel legend and author, Dervla Murphy: PERU

"In my tent on an uninhabited stretch of high puna in the Peruvian Andes when I woke as the sun was rising over a crenulated 20,000ft summit in the near distance."

To fulfil your Inca dreams and wake up to the same mountain peaks as Dervla, we would suggest some acclimatisation. Our 17 day Peru and Inca Trail trek provides the perfect excuse to acclimatise slowly and enjoy the morning views of the mountains and remote areas of the Andes.

4. BBC Planet Earth 2 cameraman, John Aitchison: ANTARCTIC

"In a tent on the frozen sea in the Antarctic, next to a colony of emperor penguins."

A tent on the Antarctic ice may not be everybody's morning cup of tea. To see the emperor penguin colonies we would suggest A, some solid fluffy slippers and B, a cosy cabin on our Antarctic expedition cruise. This cruise is a little different from the rest as it crosses the Polar Circle, where few have ventured.

In contrast to Karen's view, you may prefer to enjoy Yosemite National Park looking up at El Capitan with your feet firmly on the ground. We would suggest, especially if you're traveling far, that you should see as many Western American national parks as possible. They are well worth seeing and our US National Parks vacation includes a good number of them.